1st Annual Pinterest Baking Party

Need to BLOG! Need to BLOG!

Yes, those are the words I keep repeating to myself. I MISS, MISS, MISS blogging! But everyday comes and everyday goes and life just gets in the way. Good thing this is NOT my full-time job, I would be failing miserably.

A number of things have come in my path... 1) LIFE 2) KIDS AWAY AT COLLEGE (means less cooking) 3) A HOME FLOOD 4) PURE LAZINESS!!! But baking, it's Christmas time and I can FOR SURE find lots of time to get my baking in. The kitchen is OPEN FOR BUSINESS and the baking has begun in my home. I hope to share with you a few ole' recipes and of course a few new ones too!

Yesterday was my first ever Pinterest Baking Party, which I hope there will be many more baking parties in my near future with this new tradition. The plan was for each person to bring a recipe (or two), we went with two because we only had 4 people commit to this 1st EVER Baking Day. We all spent approximately $100 dollars buying all the stuff for 8 batches of goodies (but we all left with 8 batches of goodies). So, for my $100 bucks and my ONE ALL DAY baking event, I left with the 8 batches of stuff I received and I was able to package up 7 teacher gifts, 1 extra large tray for the entire school office, 6 add'l medium size containers to give away (one to a neighbor and five to needy families in our community) and then 2 small individual gifts for the orthodontics office and one more container for my new house cleaner (a Christmas gift to myself this year). Plus there was at least a plate full left at home to munch on and a dozen or two cookies left I put in the freeze for my son to snack on (Spice Cookies, his favorite)!

We all shopped and brought enough stuff to make TWO items (and since there were 4 of us) we bought and brought enough stuff to make 4 batches of EACH of the two items. This way we would all go home with 8 batches of goodies, 1 batch of each item = 8 items = 8 batches of per yumminess!!!  It's a little complicated, but actually quite simple.

Tina (myself) picked 2 recipes = Cranberry Crunch Bark and White Chocolate Spice Cookies
Sandy picked 2 recipes = Snickerdoodle Cupcakes and Chocolate Chip Cookies
Cynthia picked 2 recipes = Cookie Butter Rice Krispy Treats and Cinnamon Pecans
Ashlyn picked 2 recipes = Hershey Kiss Cookies and Homemade Peanut Butter Cups

We made 4 batches of each of the above recipes.


We used Pinterest for some inspiration on some of these recipes and some were just ole' time favorites. We made a Pinterest Board for everyone to pin too and follow for ideas so that no one made the same items.

Then we all gathered at my house from 11am to 8pm (it went over about 2 hours more then originally planned), but it was our 1st time. Everyone began creating and make 4 batches of each of the 2 recipes they brought. I had huge 6' tables set up, one for each person. This helped with organizing and collecting all the goodies at the end of the day.

4 Batches each of all this Deliciousness: Cranberry Crunch Bark broken up and then packaged into little baggies. The White Chocolate Spice Cookies were easy but required alot of cooking, so watch the recipes that need the oven and space them out. Cynthia made two recipes one used NO oven and went into a 9x13 pan (which even brought their own pans needed) and then these cut into nice squares to package, and the pecans were easy to also add to goodies bags and just tie with a bow. The Snickerdoodle Cupcakes worked great for me to send a plate to my son's school office and also for my daughter to take to work on leave on the break table. And of course cookies and Homemade Peanut Butter Cups were another huge hit in the containers I packaged up.

This was such and easy way for everyone to only be able to worry about making 2 recipes and yet leaving with 8 different items! This takes on a whole new level of the Cookie Exchange.

Here are some great photos and we made some great memories too, like my daughter who now calls herself the one-sock baker. She was hot/cold, hot/cold and got comfortable with one sock on, one sock off. I guess it's kinda like one foot out of the covers! Overall it was a great baking day and I can't wait to plan next year's baking extravaganza.

I am still ALIVE, and will begin blogging again SOON!

I am here! I am alive! So much has happened since May 2013. I am just going to say a QUICK HELLO and share a few pictures and then I promise I will be back soon!

My twins came home from their first year of college, they went on an amazing Study Abroad trip to Italy, and now they are already back in school in Missouri for year number two. Bitter Sweet! My little guy just started High School, I don't know how that happened. And we enjoyed a few family vacations this summer, quick but fun.

Creative Memories and the scrapbooking program I have used for years and years is NO MORE. I have moved over to a new company, which was actually the original makers of the Creative Memories program, Panstoria Historian 4 photo management and editing software check it out.



This is how I make all my scrapbooking pages on my blog, so I've gotta do a little switching over and before I even had begun this process, my computer CRASHED three nights ago, yep CRASHED! Thank the Lord for Carbonite, in the process of re-storing everything now. So, that too will help me get back up and running.

And then, YEP it just keeps getting better and better! Just as I was going to begin "blogging" again, my house flooded. Yep, the entire thing from an upstairs supply hose. Needless to say, the below pictures are from my home and I have no home right now, let alone any kitchen to cook in. AH, looking at the bright side, I will be getting a brand new kitchen (again!)! Yeah, I've already remodeled once or twice before, so here we go again. Not only is it a new kitchen, two new bathrooms, the stairs, the hallways, the bonus room, the scrapbook room and the Master Bedroom Closet and part of the room too! FUN TIMES!

Yep, that's ME! My cute painted toes and all reading my Food & Family Magazine waiting for the many many contractors to arrive on a daily bases. And YEAH that was my kitchen you are looking at. So, now that you are all caught up on my life, I WILL BE BACK as soon as I can cooking and blogging in my brand new kitchen (and home!)

Raspberry Dream Muffins

Here is a delicious muffin recipe to make with those hand picked raspberries this season (or fresh ones from the store, or frozen work well too). It's almost raspberry picking time (just a few months away), so I am getting excited about having my freezer filled with fresh hand picked raspberries again. I can't wait to get back in the kitchen and create some magical new things, but today I am sharing a muffin recipe, from one of my favorite bloggers. This is by far one of the best raspberry muffins recipes I've made so far.


Raspberry Dream Muffins
original recipe found at Your Homebased Mom

6 oz raspberries (fresh or frozen)
1 cup sugar, plus 2 tbsp for topping
1/4 cup butter, softened
2 eggs
1/2 tsp almond extract
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
2-1/2 cup flour
1 tbsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup whipping cream
1/2 cup milk
1 cup white chocolate chips
2 tbsp brown sugar

In a bowl combine raspberries (washed) and 1/4 cup sugar and let sit while you assemble the rest of the muffins. In a mixing bowl cream butter and 3/4 cup sugar. Beat in eggs and almond extract and vanilla.

In another bowl combine the flour, baking powder and salt. Add to butter mixture, alternating with milk and cream. Stir in white chocolate chips. Gently fold in raspberries.

Line muffin tins with liners and fill 3/4 full.

Combine brown sugar and remaining white sugar. Sprinkle over the top of batter. Bake at 375 degrees for 25-30 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Best served warm.

G'ma Spaghetti {Pasta for the Dorm Room}

We are celebrating my twins birthday by making their favorite pasta for a dorm room full of college girls (and boys). This was so much fun, I flew out to see my daughters in September for their 19th birthday (yes, I've been holding onto this post for a while now) and I even got to watch them perform at the Cardinals Baseball Game and while I was there they had a list of favorite foods they were missing from home, one of them was G'ma's Simple Spaghetti.

And since I was asked to create a pasta recipe for the National Pasta Association (NPA) working on a campaign called Pasta Fits, I knew this was the perfect opportunity and the perfect recipe. It's light, it's simple and it's delicious. We love pasta at our house, it's pretty much a staple every week and with all the healthy and light ways you can fit it into your diet very easily. It's also great on your budget, and as a Dave Ramsey fan, pasta totally works.


I was sent a VERY COOL pasta pack that included Dreamfields® Spaghetti, Mueller’s® Whole Grain Spaghetti, Heartland® Gluten Free Wheat Free Penne, Ronzoni Healthy Harvest® Spaghetti, Ronzoni Garden Delight® Rotini, and an Ultragrain Pasta® Spaghetti Spoon, and you can find some super cool recipes you can try from the National Pasta Association (NPA).

G'ma's Simple Spaghetti Sauce

from my MOM (G'ma)

4 cans of Tomato Sauce

1 can Tomato Paste
1/4 can of water

1-2 lbs of Hamburger Meat

1-2 tbsp Italian Seasoning

1-2 tsp Garlic Powder (or Onion Salt, Onion Powder and/or Garlic Salt)

Cook hamburger meat on stove-top with a little bit of the seasoning until done. Add in the 4 cans of tomato sauce and 1 can of tomato paste with add'l amounts of seasoning (she just throws some in, never measures and it is never the same) simmer/cook until steamin' hot! Cook up your spaghetti noodles and serve. We always serve with Poor Man's Garlic Bread.

National Pasta Association is providing the products for this post

at no cost to me for review, the opinions in this post are entirely mine.

{Candy} Graduation Hats

WOW, what a difference a year makes. I can't believe my little girls just finished their first year of college. These were such a cute treat for my girls High School Graduation party last year. I just never got around to posting them, so for all you moms out there with graduates this year, ENJOY!

The cookies in the photo are delicious too, see recipe here.

The party was fantastic and the dessert bar, oh MY! It was a big hit and I would recommend anyone doing this for anytime of big party.

Of course we served up some of our favorite cupcakes of all-time
Pineapple Cupcakes with White Chocolate Frosting

I saw many versions of this and still went out to create my own yet another completly different version that was quick and easy.

Graduation Candy Hats
created by me; inspired by Taste of Home

24 miniature peanut butter cups (freeze overnight)
24 Dove (freeze overnight)
24 mini-chocolate M&M candy pieces (chocie of color)
1 pkg sour straw candy
Melting Chocolate (to use for the glue)

Remove candy from the freezer and upwrap all candy and place upside down on waxed paper. Melt chocolate metling candy in microwave to use for the glue to put hats together. Cut the candy rope/straw sour candy into thin strips for the tassel. With a tooth pick dip into the melted chocolate and then place the tassel onto the top of the hat and the M&M on top of each candy.